Industry 4.0 in industrial districts: regional innovation policy for the Toy Valley district in Spain

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Regional Studies on 2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00343404.2021.1939861[EN] This study is focused on how Industry 4.0 is diffused within a Marshallian industrial district (MID) through collective action. It explains how MIDs adopt Industry 4.0 through collective initiatives for digitization, bypassing many barriers to change through the utilization of a collective project built upon a key feature of MIDs: cooperation. Results from interviews show a real living lab built upon a place-based bottom-up-oriented policy initiative co-designed by policymakers, collective actors and local firms, aimed at facilitating transition into Industry 4.0 in the Toy Valley district in the Valencia region of Spain. The results contribute to the emergent literature on district digitizationThis work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana [grant number AICO/2020/123]; and the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades [project number AEI/FEDER UE RTI2018-095739-B-100 'Innoradical4.0'].Hervás Oliver, JL. (2021). Industry 4.0 in industrial districts: regional innovation policy for the Toy Valley district in Spain. Regional Studies. 55(10-11):1775-1786. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2021.1939861177517865510-1